Floor for stables



(No Model.) .J. E. DUSTIN.

FLOOR FOR. STABLBS..

Patented Aug. 14, 1888.

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. UNTTED STATES PATENT @EETQE.

JOHN E. DUSTIN, OF LAIVRENOE, MASSACHUSETTS.

FLOOR FOR STABLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,632, dated August 14, 1888.

Application filed July 2, 1887. Serial No. 243 203. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, J OHN E. DUsTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of 'Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Floors for Stables and other Buildings; and I do hereby declare the follow ing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in floors for stables and other buildings, more particularly those which serve as repositories for fire apparatusas hook-and-ladder trucks or hose-carriages; and it consists in the construction and .combination of devices hereinafter particularly set forth and claimed.

The drawings represent in Figure 1 a perspective View, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal vertical section, of a device embodying my invention. Y

The object of my invention is to overcome the difficulties which occur more especially with fire apparatus in drawing them out or in returning them to the buildings which serve as repositorics'for the same when not in use. In many cities, and during several months of the year, it becomes necessary to mount the hook and ladder trucks and hose carriages upon runners, so called, in lieu of wheels. When this is done, great difficulty has been experienced in starting them in order to respond to an alarm or in returning to their proper position within the building, due to their great weight and the consequent friction of the runners upon the floor-surface.

To carry out my invention, I prefer to arrange and securely fasten in the floor of the building A an iron casting or runway, B, which shall extend from the threshold of the main door rearward and of a length requisite to accommodate the runners of the apparatus and enable them to rest upon the rolls 0 G, which are located transversely of the casting or runway. The latter, B, is provided with a series of pockets, a a, similarly disposed, which are adapted to receive and contain the rolls positioned therein in such manner that their uppermost surfaces project above the runway in which the said rolls are journaled. These pockets are further provided with apertures b b, to provide ready escape or removal of water or dirt which may collect in them. The rolls are to be placed so as not to interfere with the feet of the horses; but their distance from center to center may be varied to suit thelength of runners employed. Between the rolls and secured upon the surface of the casting B are ascries of cleats, project-ions, or corrugations, c c, which serve to prevent the horses from slipping in backing or starting the vehicle.

To prevent the apparatus from leaving the rolls, which otherwise might occur if a side pull were exerted, I have erected lateral guides I) D, which extend the entire length of the runway, while the ends of the rolls extend in close proximity thereto to avoid any space between the guidcs, into which the runner might occasionally slip or catch.

To render the floor equally available for wheels, I have made the rolls removable, and hence have left the slots dd, which receive the journals of the rolls, open at the top. Thus the latter can readily be lifted out when theblocks E E are then to be substituted. The latter are preferably solid, semi-cylindrical in shape,

and with lugs cast upon them by which they are retained securely in place. Thus it will be seen that when the season for the use of the runners is past, the rolls are removed, the blocks substituted, and a level continuous sun face is provided for the wheels, the cleats e c not extending entirely across the runway B.

In the drawings I have shown the rolls fitted in the casting or runway B, which is pref erably of iron, to prevent wear. This casting may be made, however, in sections, or it may be dispensed with and the rolls suitablyjournaled in the floor proper.

What I consider as my invcntion,and desire to claim, is-

1. The device for moving within a building vehicles provided with runners composed of the continuous runway B, the guides D D, extending its entire length, the vertical slots d (Z,

and the transverse pockets a a, cast integral rolls, and operatingsubstantinilyns herein de- [0 therewith and semicircular in cross-section, scribed. substantially for purposes stated. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 2. The combination, with the floor A, conpresence of two witnesses. 5 tinuous metallic runway 13, and the pockets a V J 1 "w T (I, cast integral therewith, of a series of rolls, Jon) DUE] (J G, contained partly within said pockets, but Witnesses: projecting above the surface of the runway, iii. 1*]. Lone 1c,

and the guides 1) D mijucent to the ends of the 1*. (hiiuris. 

